Rehabbed turtles from Cape win trip to Florida

Thirty-one endangered sea turtles rescued last winter from the frigid waters of Cape Cod Bay will be released today into Florida's warm waters after months of rehabilitation at the New England Aquarium.

By AMY ANTHONY

capecodtimes.com

By AMY ANTHONY

Posted Apr. 22, 2014 at 2:00 AM

By AMY ANTHONY
Posted Apr. 22, 2014 at 2:00 AM

» Social News

Thirty-one endangered sea turtles rescued last winter from the frigid waters of Cape Cod Bay will be released today into Florida's warm waters after months of rehabilitation at the New England Aquarium.

The turtles — 28 Kemp's ridleys, two loggerheads and one green — washed up in November and December, likely after failing to navigate away from the Cape, which from the bay has only one exit to the north. The configuration can disorient young turtles, according to a New England Aquarium press release.

As water temperatures drop, the turtles experience hypothermia, and heavy winds wash the inert turtles ashore, according to the press release.

"It's an annual event," said Tony LaCasse, the media relations director for the New England Aquarium.

Up until 2012, an average of 70 live turtles were brought to the aquarium every November and December. But in 2012, the aquarium saw a record 240 live turtles. This past November and December, 88 live turtles were rescued and brought to the aquarium.

Staff and volunteers from the Massachusetts Audubon Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary search the shores for washed-up turtles and bring them to the New England Aquarium's sea turtle hospital in Quincy, where they are rewarmed for several days and then treated over a period of months, according to the press release.

"Once they get rewarmed, the average turtle is going to spend three to four months in rehab," said LaCasse.

The turtles typically suffer from malnourishment, dehydration, pneumonia and other disorders resulting from "prolonged immersion in cold water," according to the press release.

Most of the turtles being released Tuesday are juveniles, and while all of them are endangered, the Kemp's ridleys are "critically endangered," LaCasse said.

The 31 rehabbed turtles left Quincy — via three SUVS — Monday morning headed for the waters of Little Talbot Island State Park in Jacksonville, Fla., where they will be released by the Marine Animal Rescue Team.

The team consists of three aquarium staff biologists and six volunteers who have cared for the turtles over the past few months.

After a nearly 24-hour road trip down the East Coast, the turtles will be released between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. today, which happens to be Earth Day.